Strong Like Me
by Rosethorn Li
Summary: -Tsunade/Jiraiya- Tsunade, Jiraiya, and a mission gone wrong. Discussions of strength.


**Strong Like Me**  
Tsunade, Jiraiya, and a mission gone wrong. Discussions of strength.  
**By: Rosethorn Li**

* * *

'_Stupid mission, stupid missing nin_,' Jiraiya mentally grumbled, blocking a barrage of shadow kunai with the blade of his real knife. One clipped his upper arm and disappeared in a poof of smoke; not fast enough. The cut stung, a slight pain, that was nothing compared to what would befall him if he didn't keep moving.

Occupy the enemy while Tsunade took them out one by one.

That was the plan. Now if only she would hurry up.

'_If Orochi-teme were here…_' He couldn't believe he missed the bastard, but this won't be happening if the resident genius were here, instead of in a lab somewhere working on those 'projects' of his. He was a ninja, not a scientist, and he knew the cocky bastard would have smirked and given him the 'I'm-superior-than-you' look that always drove Jiraiya mad just because he wasn't fast enough to block them all.

High and mighty asshole.

'_Too far above us to come on a C-rank mission_. _"Oh I'm sure you can handle it on your own, Jiraiya-kun. Aren't you the Great and Awesome Frog Summoner?_"' Though it'd turned A-rank, hadn't it, real fast.

A faint gurgle not too far from his left; Tsunade was working her magic. Four more to go--

--and he barely missed the Doton jutsu that took out the ground from under his feet by one of them.

Jump back, duck; to the left, kunai ready, throw. One incapacitated, three to go.

Tsunade takes out another; the remaining two panic and run, trying to flee. He'd always hated this part, wanted to just _let them go_, but…

Backs turned, running, they didn't even try to hide their escape. Slash, slash, burst of red.

One left.

Tsunade came from his right, matching pace; they traded looks, Jiraiya nodded, and she ran ahead.

A flicker in the distance, something black in the horizon, something shining. Definitely Not Normal. '_What's…? No! Tsunade, don't!_'

There weren't supposed to be reinforcements, not for the enemy's side.

They came in fast, and quickly he was surrounded in a loose ring. Tsunade had not stopped running; she was still following through. The leftover missing-nin, their original opponent, is clearly relieved, signing to the leader, reporting.

'_Who are these guys?_' he wondered, but when one with a slashed Rain headband started a complex chain of hand seals, he didn't really care.

Thinking fast (not thinking at all), his hands burst in jutsu. Rapid succession of seals, a burst of speed and--

"_Raiton: Atsuen Ikazuchi no Jutsu--"_

_Closer, closer. Almost. He could see the whites of their eyes, and…_

_All his remaining chakra into one attack, "Kawazu Toku no Jutsu!"_

--he was there in time.

Relief.

"Jiraiya!" someone's calling him, sounding frantic. Hands clutches roughly at his shoulders, but his sense of touch is fading into dark, just like sight.

'_She's… alright,_' and that's all he cares about when the world fades to black.

* * *

"Baka," Tsunade grumbles, checking his vitals, "idiot." Jiraiya shouldn't have done that. She can take care of herself!

Leaning over him, she releases the breath she hadn't known she'd been holding, pressing down with her fingers to feel his steady heartbeat. He's alive, he's okay, and she's glad.

Not that she'd ever tell him that.

Catching a whiff of something burning, Tsunade wrinkles her nose, glaring hotly at the scorched ground around them. Jiraiya and his stupid new jutsu.

And why name it after a frog? Her eyebrow twitches, and she roughly shoves the snoring head out of her lap.

No reason to be gentle now that she knew he would be fine.

Assessing the area, she notes the prone bodies of their former enemies with casual disinterest (her heart used to hurt, but it didn't, really, anymore), and the still-smoking ring made by her reckless idiot of a teammate.

"Jiraiya," Tsunade ground out, irritation flaring. She was going to flay him when he woke up. Flay him, and barbeque him, and make him with he had never been born.

It was justified for making her worry.

And…

They are safe now, as long as no one else comes.

But not out in the open.

There was a safe house not far from here, if she remembered right. Medical supplies, food, and a way to contact the base. The perfect place to recover.

Tsunade glanced down at the large, slumbering form half in her lap. How would she get him there?

Jiraiya let out a loud snore, mouth open, arms extending as he sought a more comfortable position. His hand brushed something a little too high.

Twitching, she smacked him with a closed fist in retribution. "I should've known. Even in your sleep, you're still a pervert."

Her only answer was another loud snore and more shifting.

Tsunade stood abruptly, letting him drop to the ground in a tangle of limbs to escape his wandering hands. Another tick of irritation added to the growing pool in her chest. "You…"she growled, "are so going to get it when you wake up." She never beat up a helpless man. Unless he was the enemy, but then, that was her job.

Standing with her arms crossed, she surveyed him, going over a mental list of options on how to transport the big man. Face twisted in a frowning, Tsunade came to a decision.

She'd have to s drag /s carry him.

Not something she was happy with, to say the least.

Bending down, she arranged his body into a kneeling position and hooked his arm over her shoulders. Rising, with some difficulty, to her feet, Tsunade mumbled, "I had no idea you were this heavy. Loose some weight, you big lug."

"But you like me this way, Tsu-chan," a breathy voice whispered into her ear.

"Agh!" she screeched, startled, nearly dropping him. Tsunade couldn't believe she'd left herself so open to attack. Forgetting herself in enemy territory, what kind of kuonichi was she? "Jiraiya!"

"That's me," the voice confirmed, smug.

She whirled on him, as much as she could without removing his support, and scowled at the smirk she saw on his face. "You were awake this whole time!"

"Nope, Tsunade-chan. Just woke up." He grinned his idiot grin, opened his mouth; dread wedged in her stomach, momentarily pushing back the irritation. "Were you trying to take advantage of me in my vulnerable state?"

Nothing that came from that mouth was ever appropriate. "No, you idiot! What were you thinking?!" the medic scolded. '_You shouldn't have made me worry!_'

Jiraiya's smile took a quiet turn, but by the look in his eyes, he wasn't done. "About you, Tsunade-chan."

Red tinged her cheeks, but she ignored it, writing it off as a flush from anger. "I'm being serious!"

"So am I," he said with that same quiet smile.

"No, you're just being a brat." She pounded him roughly in the ribs with her supporting arm, sending him into a coughing fit. Nearly doubling over, Jiraiya leaned more heavily on her shoulders. Concerned, she slowed their sluggish pace, peering worriedly at her teammate.

"That your idea of foreplay, Tsu-chan? What do you say, we go on a date and I'll--?" Jiraiya leered up at her, eyes glinting with clear proposition.

Concern forgotten in a wave of rage, her fist connecting with the side his head stopped the sentence from reaching completion. No, she now, or ever would, wanted to know what he would do.

"Jiraiya! Shut up!" she demanded, jostling him into walking faster.

Surprisingly, he followed orders, for which Tsunade was grateful. His big mouthed smart comments and continuous askance for a date strained her nerves. Nerves she needed not-strained for ninja-duty purposes.

But the silence also let Tsunade think. About things she didn't want to think about. At all. Ever.

"You shouldn't have done that," she said eventually, adding, "I can take care of myself."

There was something tense in the air, like it was waiting. The metaphorical spy in the room that everyone knew was there but didn't want to acknowledge.

Something that she'd just given an opening to take form.

"You… might be one of the strongest people I know, Tsunade," Jiraiya murmured against her neck, so quiet she barely heard.

She peered down at him, frowning. "What are you talking about?" she demanded, feeling strangely defensive.

"You're strong, Tsunade-chan" Back were his careless grin and teasing tone. Gone was the tenseness, as if it had never been.

"Of course I am!" she said, indignant. What was he babbling about now? Had the chakra exhaustion gone to his head?

"Tsunade-chan is strong"

"Yes, I am, you idiot. Now shut up!" she grumbled. Fondly, her mind whispered, '_Idiot_.'

He laughed and started singing, "Tsunade-chan is strong"

She felt his breathe against her neck, hitching with his joy at her indigence, and a part of her felt happy, too. A part of her that wanted to smile, and say how amazing she sometimes found him.

A part of her Tsunade would never name.

'…_you're strong, too, Jiraiya…-kun._'

-**End**-

For a little extra. After the mission, after the report...

**OMAKE**

They stood in front of the Hokage, their former sensei, at attention, after they'd made their report. Sandaime lit his pipe. "So they have been taken care of?"

"Hai, Hokage-sama," Tsunade answered for them, eyes glued to a stop behind his left shoulder. Orochimaru stood behind the desk, hands full of papers, smirking. This did not bode well.

Tsunade felt a twitch coming on; Jiraiya was already tense and looking defensive.

"Good. Dismissed."

They turned to leave. She began to relax as they neared the door. Perhaps there wouldn't be a fight after all?

So she thought, until Orochimaru's voice drifted to them, apparently addressing the Hokage, "So the idiot isn't completely incompetent."

Jiraiya whirled, eyes dark, brows furrowed. He stomped over to his rival and pointed a finger rudely at him, shouting, "Who are you calling incompetent, you asshole?!"

"Did you not hear me?" their teammate asked, smirk still present, eyes strangely innocent.

"I did! You called me incompetent! Admit it!"

"Are your ears working right? Perhaps they were damaged by your new jutsu?"

Tsunade and Sarutobi sighed in union.

Orochimaru's eyes met hers. What they held told her to wait.

She didn't interfere for a while, just plugged her ears to the yelling and waited for her irritation to reach a high enough level for it to aid her chakra fist.

That was the closest, she thought, to a compliment that Orochimaru would ever give.


End file.
